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The independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched an inquiry into alleged corruption and irregularities over the controversial deals that the authorities signed with the Canadian oil company Niko, reports UNB.
According to sources, after waiting a long time for the reply from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the ACC Sunday formed a 2-member team comprised of an assistant director and an inspector to inquire into the allegations.
On August 2, the ACC wrote a letter, signed by Commissioner Monir Uddin Ahmed, to the Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources division asking to send all documents concerning the deal with Niko "on urgent basis" along with his comments on the reported allegations.
Having taken a long time, the secretary eventually replied on August 27 and asked the ACC to give him until September 29, because the matter was under a departmental inquiry by a high-powered team.
Having got no response from the ministry long after the deadline, the ACC decided to begin an inquiry based on the information they gathered drawing on media reports.
Earlier, the Commission decided to look into the affairs under Clause 1 of Section 20 of the ACC Act, following newspaper reports detailing alleged corruption by high government officials and ministers under both present and previous governments.
Niko came to limelight following the second blowout at Tengratila gas field on June 24 this year, and people started to question the credibility and eligibility of the Canadian oil exploration company to conduct such drilling activities.
The blaze at Tengratila went out of control and continued for over a month. Apart from the huge loss of the country's gas reserve, the second blowout caused a considerable damage to environment and human health.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings observed the country has suffered a huge financial loss due to rampant corruption in handing over the Tengratila gas field to Niko Resources Ltd. through a joint venture instead of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC).
The former State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain reportedly ordered Petrobangla to sign the deal with Niko, citing that he had received verbal approval of the Prime Minister.
He has been blamed for signing a faulty and unusual contract that allowed Niko Resources to be unaccountable to Petrobangla, the state-run oil and gas regulatory authority that regulates all oil companies working in Bangladesh under production sharing contracts.
Government officials reportedly violated relevant rules and regulations to award the Tengratila gas field, also known as Chhatak West Gas field, along with two other fields to Niko through a joint venture with Bapex-the exploration unit of Petrobangla.
On June 18, Mosharraf was forced to resign as State Minister following series of media reports that began over the much-publicised expensive luxury jeep he received from Niko, allegedly in exchange of going slow on an inquiry into the first Tengratila blowout of January 7 this year.
According to some reports, owing to the first blowout at Tengratila the country lost gas worth about Tk 5.5 billion.
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